Where do they come from,

這些新詞從何而來？

and how do they make it into our everyday lives?

它們又是如何融入我們日常的生活呢？

With over 170,000 words currently in use in the English language,

如今，英語涵蓋多達170,000個單字

it might seem we already have plenty.

這看似已經很多了

Yet, as our world changes,

然而當世界改變、

new ideas and inventions spring forth,

創新的想法和發明不斷湧出、

and science progresses,

科技進步，

our existing words leave gaps in what we want to express

現有的單字已無法表達我們的思緒

and we fill those gaps in several ingenious,

所以我們選擇用一些聰明的、

practical,

實用的、

and occasionally peculiar ways.

奇特的方法去填補

One way is to absorb a word from another language.

我們可以從其他語言中納取新詞

English has borrowed so many words over its history

英語在演化過程中借用了許多外語單字，

that nearly half of its vocabulary comes directly from other languages.

將近一半的字彙直接引用自其他語言

Sometimes, this is simply because the thing the word describes

有時，被借用的外語單字可以很好的詮釋

was borrowed itself.

事物的本身

Rome and France brought legal and religious concepts,

羅馬和法國將聖壇與陪審團等法律宗教觀念

like altar and jury, to Medieval England,

引入中世紀英國，

while trade brought crops and cuisine,

而貿易則帶入農作物和料理，

like Arabic coffee,

例如阿拉比卡咖啡、

Italian spaghetti,

義大利麵

and Indian curry.

以及印度咖哩

But sometimes, another language has just the right word

而有時，其他語言正好擁有一個單字

for a complex idea or emotion,

能正確的形容某種複雜的想法或情感，

like naïveté

例如天真的、

machismo,

男子氣概、

or schadenfreude.

或是幸災樂禍

Scientists also use classical languages to name new concepts.

科學家也會利用古語為新的概念命名

Clone, for example, was derived from the Ancient Greek word for twig

例如「克隆」源自古希臘文的「樹枝」一詞，

to describe creating a new plant from a piece of the old.

形容植物轉殖技術

And today, the process works both ways,

而如今，英語也同時影響其他語言，

with English lending words like software to languages all over the world.

像是程式語言將英文引入世界各地

Another popular way to fill a vocabulary gap

另一種常見的彌補文法缺漏的方式

is by combining existing words that each convey part of the new concept.

是結合多個單字來傳達新的概念

This can be done by combining two whole words into a compound word,

我們可以將兩個完整單字變成合成字

like airport

像是機場

or starfish,

或是海星，

or by clipping and blending parts of words together, like spork,

也可以擷取或混合其中一部份，像是叉勺、

brunch,

早午餐

or internet.

或是網路

And unlike borrowings from other languages,

相較於從其他語言借用的單字，

these can often be understood the first time you hear them.

這些單字比較容易被理解

And sometimes a new word isn't new at all.

新詞並非都是新創造的

Obsolete words gain new life by adopting new meanings.

舊詞也可以被賦予新的涵義

Villain originally meant a peasant farmer, but in a twist of aristocratic snobbery

"Villain"原本代表鄉間農夫，後來卻轉而形容

came to mean someone not bound by the knightly code of chivalry

毫無騎士精神的貴族勢力，

and, therefore, a bad person.

而如今被解釋為壞人

A geek went from being a carnival performer

"Geek"從嘉年華表演者

to any strange person

轉而形容

to a specific type of awkward genius.

某領域的怪才

And other times, words come to mean their opposite through irony,

單字有時表示與他們字義相反的事物,常見的情形有反諷、

metaphor,

暗喻

or misuse,

或是誤用字義，

like when sick or wicked are used to describe something literally amazing.

例如我們會用厭惡或壞去描繪令人讚嘆的事物

But if words can be formed in all these ways,

但當我們擁有這麼多造詞方法，

why do some become mainstream while others fall out of use

為何無法避免有些單字成為主流,有些單字被遺忘

or never catch on in the first place?

或是不曾變成流行?

Sometimes, the answer is simple,

答案常常很簡單，

as when scientists or companies give an official name to a new discovery

例如科學家或公司會賦予新發現或技術

or technology.

一個正式名稱

And some countries have language academies to make the decisions.

又如某些國家利用語言研究機構做出選擇

But for the most part, official sources like dictionaries

但大部分時間，像是字典等正式資料來源

only document current usage.

只負責紀錄下當下流行的用法

New words don't originate from above, but from ordinary people

新詞往往不是這樣產生的，而是透過百姓

spreading words that hit the right combination

口耳相傳

of useful and catchy.

實用且好用的單字

Take the word meme,

以Meme為例，

coined in the 1970s by sociobiologist Richard Dawkins

1970年代，社會生物學家理查·道金斯創造了這個字，

from the Ancient Greek for imitation.

而他的靈感來自於古希臘文

He used it to describe how ideas and symbols propagate through a culture

他用Meme去解釋思想與象徵如何在文化間傳遞，

like genes through a population.

這就如同基因在人口間傳遞的概念

With the advent of the Internet,

隨著網路世代的來臨，

the process became directly observable in how jokes and images

我們可以明顯發現笑話或影像

were popularized at lightning speed.

已快速融入了日常生活

And soon, the word came to refer to a certain kind of image.

很快地，單字被用來指特定種類的影像

So meme not only describes how words become part of language,

所以，meme不只描繪單字是如何融入語言中，

the word is a meme itself.

單字本身其實就是meme

And there's a word for this phenomenon of words that describe themselves:

我們可以用一個詞形容單字詮釋本意的現象：

autological.

"autological"

Not all new words are created equal.

並非所有新詞都生而平等

Some stick around for millennia,

有些流傳千古，

some adapt to changing times,

有些隨時代而變化，

and others die off.

有些則消失

Some relay information,

有些新詞傳達訊息，

some interpret it,

有些解釋著知識

but the way these words are created

無論如何，這些新詞被創造的方式

and the journey they take to become part of our speech

以及新詞所歷經的演變，

tells us a lot about our world and how we communicate within it.

讓我們更了解自己的世界以及我們如何進行溝通